University strives for a healthier campus

Gabi Harrison, Kimberly Laferty, and Adam Struder

Proposal from Adam Studer on Vimeo.

 

Kent State University is making significant strides in its goal of becoming the healthiest campus in America, according to Madison Jordan, the health and wellness manager at Kent State.

 

With vegan friend options across campus, the university just received an A+ report card from PETA2.

 

“In line with the university’s vision to make the health of its community members a priority, the university’s healthy campus initiative, Kent State of Wellness, is fostering a culture of health and wellness for students and employees at all Kent State campuses,” Jordan said.

Kent State of Wellness is in alignment with the university’s Strategic Roadmap and is focused on seven health priorities: mental health, physical activity, nutrition, smoking and tobacco use, alcohol and drug use, preventive care and safety. These priorities are grounded in the American College Health Association’s Healthy Campus 2020 framework, Jordan said.

 

The university also has a website called Campus Dish where they post menus. There is a vegetarian and vegan ‘filter’ which will bring up those options at each dining location on campus, Jordan said.

“There are also nutrition cards at each dining location that will identify if the dish is vegetarian or vegan, among other categories, such as gluten-free,” Jordan said.

 

With strives for a healthier campus, the university’s dining services budget has escalated slowly since 2012.  Between 2012 and 2016 the university budget’s difference for dining services was 5,518,223, as seen in the graph below.

 

Credit: University Budget & Financial Analysis Budget Books 2016 https://www.kent.edu/budget/budget-books

 

 

Veganism is a new health trend that has been spreading amongst millennials and Christina Brigeman, a senior communication studies major, has taken that trend in full stride. Brigeman has been a vegan for about five months.

   

   Brigeman lives in a house off campus and since living on her own she’s had to learn to grocery shop

and cook for herself.

   “I’m a major foodie and when I moved out I became more conscious of the things I was buying, what was in them and what went into getting those products,” said Brigeman.

   Veganism has been proved to reduce anxiety and lower stress; Brigeman claims that since going vegan she’s had an improvement in her mood and energy since she’s stopped eating dairy and meat. Brigeman claims that school will always be stressful but that going vegan has improved her health which is making her feel like a better student overall.  Another Kent vegan, Erica Bachner, a junior fashion merchandising major, claims to be feeling the health benefits of veganism as well.

   

   She has found that places like Chipotle, Taco Bell, and other eateries are pretty accommodating of vegan dietary needs. However, Brigeman works as a tour guide on campus as well as in student media. Since she spends so much time on campus she now has to find vegan-friendly options.

 

   Grazer’s is a healthy vegan-friendly restaurant. They have a “create your own” style menu that allows people to choose from their options to create their own custom meal that caters to their dietary needs. It is new to Kent’s dining services and is very popular among students with dietary restrictions. Our team reached out to them numerous times but they declined to speak.

 

“I wish that Grazer’s and Fresco’s was here when I still had meal plan because I would definitely take advantage of that,” said Erica Bachner, a junior fashion merchandising major.

 

   Bachner has been vegan for about a year and a half and has been pleased with Kent’s dining choices. To her it’s convenient to know what’s in every meal. The ability to swap things out to Brigeman is one of the things that makes Kent’s dining services so great.

 

“I think they’re doing a good job with it. Kent has a really good dining system in general and they’ve always had options even before I went vegan,” said Brigeman.

 

 Listed below are vegan options on campus:

-Large salad bars at Eastway Café and Prentice

-Vegan/vegetarian stations at Eastway and Prentice with daily features

-Eastway True Balance Station: this station is free from 7 of the 8 top allergens including eggs and dairy, many great vegetable and starch options offered daily for lunch and dinner

-Options in the Hub: Grazer’s multiple vegan-friendly options such as vegan chili, Subway salads

– Prepackaged item in all Markets (Eastway Deli & Market, Rosie’s Rations, Munchies Market) such as some frozen Amy’s Kitchen items, vegan granola bars, etc

-Fresh produce sections in all Markets including fresh berries, avocados, asparagus, bagged lettuce, local apples, are a few among a large rotating list

-Smoothie Station at Prentice: build your own smoothie, dairy-free milk options available

 

 

Gabi – Interviewed Christina, got photo of Christina, proof-read and edited, transcribed Erica’s portion and pieced it in

Kimberly – Video of Christina, interviewed Madison Jordan, university budget and infographic, wordpress

Adam – Interviewed Erica, Edited all video into video package

Kent State strives to be more of a healthy campus. Check out the story at https://t.co/YHqV22BnE8 #JMCRPP

— Kimberly Laferty (@KimberlyLaferty) November 16, 2017